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Dear Friends,

The economic news for this week has continued the melancholy outlook we've become accustomed to so far this year.

On Thursday, the stock market gave up over 344 points while Nasdaq lost 74 points. The unemployment figures that came out today, were troublesome. For the month of August, there was a loss of 84,000 jobs and the unemployment rate went up precipitously to 6.1% - the highest its been in almost 5 years!

While the most current financial news is uninspiring for many Americans, there is a silver lining for mortgage rates. Interest rates have come down gradually and continuously. Please check our current rates.

Every 4 Years

This is the week we are providing several memorable quotes from previous Republican National Conventions.

In 1964 the former Senator from Arizona, Barry Goldwater provided one of the most memorable quotes from a Conservative in his remarks. "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also, that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

The Silent Majority

At the 1968 Convention, former Vice-President Richard Nixon gave his acceptance speech on August 8th, 1968. "It is another voice. It is the quiet voice in the tumult and the shouting. It is the voice of the great majority of Americans, the forgotten Americans - the non-demonstrators." Nixon then went on to win the General Election over Hubert Humphrey. Ironically, on August 8th, 1974 he resigned the Presidency exactly 6 years to the day. 

In New Orleans, Vice-President George H. W. Bush gave a quote which eventually came back to haunt him by declaring "Read my lips: No new taxes" at the 1988 Convention.

On July 17th, 1980, former California Governor Ronald Reagan accepted the nomination in Detroit. His words that day included, "I ask you not simply to 'trust me', but to trust your values - our values - and to hold me responsible for living up to them." Reagan won the election in a landslide over President Jimmy Carter.

A Footnote

Alaska Republican Governor Sarah Palin is the newest participant in a political race that has shaken up everything!